To say don’t put dog poo in bags

[GoogolB]

…if you’re not going to take the bag with you or stick it in the bin.

Went for a walk in local woodland for the first time since last summer and the path is strewn with poo filled bags. It’s really revolting. If you’re not going to take it home, it would be far better to flick it into the undergrowth and let it decompose. Leaving the bagged poo is surely the worst option?

Bag it and take it home.
There are signs telling you to flick it because most dog owners are too bone idle to bag it and take it home, not because they want you to flick it.

Forestry Commission policy is stick and flick. It’s because they don’t want the expense of bins.

Why should they have the expense of bins? Take it home.

They tell you to stick and flick, not take it home. Presumably that’s because it has benefits in woodland.

Do you really believe that? There are no benefits to the environment from dog shit.

I can’t think of any other reason the Forestry Commission would encourage it.

Most professional dog walkers I've seen around, have about half a dozen dogs. I can't imagine them following every one to pick up it's poo.

What about all the poo of other animals- foxes, mice, birds, beetles, rats etc? It's all just part of nature. Fish poo in the rivers and the sea all the time!

I am confident to say I have always picked up and binned my dog’s poo but this is what I do, I also pick up unbagged poo. if I see and don’t have my hands full. As dog owners it’s the decent thing to do.

Dog poo is not part of nature and it's not the same as poo left by wild animals. The number of dogs in the UK is way way above what could exist in any natural ecosystem. I suspect some landowners prefer stick and flick to little bags of shit being left everywhere but it's not better than just taking it to a bin.

Dog shit and fox shit are virtually indistinguishable. 🤷‍♀️

No they're not. And even urban fox populations are at nowhere near the density of urban dog populations.

Yes they are. And population density is entirely irrelevant because no fox shit is picked up, whereas most dog shit is.

Oh please share you qualifications and data with me.

I can tell you that the woodland I manage is home to two pairs of foxes and gets transient visits from 6 more (edge effects). I can therefore calculate scat density /hectare pretty accurately and compare that with the amount of dog turds left on site.

We get on average 300 dogs per day and roughly 2/3 of all dog mess is picked up and a third left (including stuff that is bagged and left 😒).

Dog shit is more voluminous than fox shit due to differences in diet (any half decent field naturalist can tell the difference btw so if you're struggling you need some more training - the FSC or your local natural history society may be able to help).

Anyway my study (not yet published or I'd link to it) is suggesting that fox: dog shit in an urban woodland comes out at about 1:6 -that's a huge input in nutrients.

And yeah, some of us really do research this stuff.

@cryinglaughing

Horse poo is offensive to me and my dog. My dog is intolerant to ivermectin, which can be excreted in large quantities by a horse. It could be fatal to my dog. Needless to say I watch her like a hawk and keep her away from it, but it is very offensive to me!

This is not particularly unusual either, lots of dogs can have a bad reaction to ivermectin.

Can't you keep it on a lead? Surely a better idea than being offended.

Blanket worming of horses is a thing of the past and not recommended by vets. Worm egg counts are the way forward 😃

The chances of your dog coming across horse poo with a "large quantity" of Ivermectin in is statisticallly minute. If the horse is wormed, it is at most 2 or 3 times a year.
I think you have over egged the pudding here.

@cryinglaughing That's good to know, thank you. However, it's not a chance I'm willing to take - we will keep avoiding it!